Does lifting equipment need re-examining after a move or repair?
Sometimes - LOLER requires a fresh thorough examination before use after equipment is installed or reassembled at a new location, and after exceptional circumstances such as damage, failure, a major repair, a modification or a long time out of use. A routine service on its own isn’t one of them.
Your lifting equipment has a normal examination date: every 6 months or every 12. But that isn’t the only time it needs one. Some events can’t wait for the next date, and the rule is that the equipment shouldn’t go back into use until it’s been examined.
Here’s how to tell which events count.
Which events need an examination before use?
What happened | Examine before use? | Why |
Moved and reassembled where its safety depends on the installation (a vehicle lift to another bay, a mobile gantry, a crane on a new base) | Yes | LOLER Regulation 9(2): examine after assembly and before use at a new site or location |
Moved but needs no assembly (a forklift driven to another building, a sling in a van) | No, unless something else has happened | Its safety doesn’t depend on how it’s installed |
Repair or replacement of a critical part (a boom, chain, brake, hook, hoist unit or safety device) | Yes | HSE gives repair of critical parts as an example of a major change likely to affect integrity |
Damage or failure (overloaded, struck, dropped a load, a safety device tripped) | Yes | HSE lists damage or failure as an exceptional circumstance |
Modified or altered (a new attachment, a longer boom, a higher capacity) | Yes | A major change likely to affect integrity |
Out of use for a long period | Yes | HSE lists long periods out of use |
A routine service, with parts replaced like for like | Not on its own | A service isn’t listed as an exceptional circumstance. If it turns up damage, see above |
HSE’s wording is that a thorough examination is needed “following exceptional circumstances” liable to jeopardise the safety of the equipment, and in the regulations it’s Regulation 9(3)(a)(iv). The test is whether the event could have affected its safety.
What counts as “moved”?
Regulation 9(2) applies to equipment whose safety depends on how it’s installed. It has to be thoroughly examined after installation and before first use, and again after assembly and before use at a new site or in a new location.
That includes:
vehicle lifts, including a lift moved to a different bay, which has new fixings and a new floor
mobile and fixed gantries and cranes taken down and put up again, or moved to a new runway
lifts, platform lifts and hoists moved to a new building or position
tower cranes at each new site, which HSE names as its example of equipment needing examination after assembly and before use at each location
A forklift, a telehandler or a set of slings doesn’t depend on installation. Driving it to another site isn’t a trigger on its own. But if it’s left your business, 9(4) requires evidence of its last thorough examination to go with it. See second-hand lifting equipment and LOLER.
What counts as a major repair?
HSE doesn’t list every case. It gives “replacement/repair of critical parts” as an example, and it describes the trigger as major changes “likely to affect the equipment’s integrity”.
In practice, the parts to think about are the ones the load depends on: booms, arms, chains, ropes, hooks, brakes, hydraulic rams, structural welds, hoist units, gearboxes and safety devices. Repairing or replacing one of those needs an examination before the equipment lifts again.
If you’re not sure, ask. An examiner can usually tell you in a phone call whether a repair needs a full thorough examination. The decision is for a competent person, not the repairer.
What should you do?
Take it out of use. Label it and keep it out of use until it’s been examined.
Tell your examiner what happened. What was damaged, repaired, moved or changed, and when.
Book an examination before it goes back into service. You don’t have to wait for the next due date.
Keep the new report. It records the examination, any defects and the next due date (LOLER Regulation 10 and Schedule 1). Keep it with the earlier ones (Regulation 11).
If you hire the equipment, tell the hire company straight away. It may need examining before it’s used again, and the hire company should provide the report.
Who should do the examination?
A competent person with the knowledge and experience to examine that equipment, who is independent enough to make an objective judgement. HSE says the examiner shouldn’t be the person who routinely maintains the equipment, because they would be assessing their own work.
The same principle applies to a repair. The engineer who repaired or moved the equipment shouldn’t be the one who signs it off as safe. Read why independent examination matters.
What will the examiner look at?
The whole of the equipment, as in any thorough examination, with extra attention on whatever changed: the repaired part, the new fixings, the modified section or anything that was damaged. They’ll also look for knock-on damage elsewhere. For equipment like cranes, a load test is more likely after a major repair or alteration to a load-bearing part. See how often a crane needs a LOLER inspection.
Check in 2 minutes
Has anything been moved, repaired, modified or damaged since the last examination? If yes, check whether you’ve had it examined since.
Look at your last report. Is the equipment in the same place?
Check your repair records. Do any involve a critical part?
Check anything that’s been in storage or out of use for a long time.
Independent examinations in Nottingham and the Midlands
We carry out LOLER thorough examinations after repairs, moves, installations and breakdowns on lifts, vehicle lifts, cranes, hoists, forklifts and lifting accessories. We cover Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Loughborough and Lincoln, and the Midlands, and we also travel anywhere in the UK.
Every examination is carried out and signed by me, Ryan Leavesley MSOE MBES, an engineer surveyor with over 14 years’ experience. Reports are written on site before I leave, with photos of anything that needs fixing. We don’t sell, hire, service or repair equipment, so we’re never checking our own work. Once we’ve agreed a price, it stays fixed for all your ongoing examinations.
Tell us what’s happened and we’ll come back with a fixed quote.
FAQs
Does lifting equipment need examining again after a repair?
After a major repair, yes. HSE lists repair or replacement of critical parts as a major change likely to affect the equipment’s integrity, and LOLER requires a thorough examination after exceptional circumstances. A routine service on its own isn’t listed.
Does a vehicle lift need examining after it’s moved?
Yes. A vehicle lift’s safety depends on how it’s installed, so LOLER Regulation 9(2) requires a thorough examination after it’s assembled and before it’s used at a new site or in a new location, including a different bay.
Does a forklift need re-examining when it moves to another site?
Not because of the move. A forklift’s safety doesn’t depend on how it’s installed, so the installation rule doesn’t apply. It still needs its normal examinations, and an examination after any exceptional circumstance such as damage.
What counts as exceptional circumstances under LOLER?
HSE gives damage or failure, being out of use for long periods, and major changes likely to affect the equipment’s integrity, such as repair of critical parts. The test is whether the event could have affected safety.
Does a service mean the equipment needs a new LOLER examination?
Not on its own. A routine service isn’t listed as an exceptional circumstance. But if the service finds damage or involves a critical part, an examination is needed before it’s used again.
Can the engineer who did the repair carry out the examination?
It’s best avoided. HSE says the examiner shouldn’t be the person who routinely maintains the equipment, because they’d be assessing their own work. An independent competent person gives you a genuine check on the repair.
Can I keep using equipment while I wait for the examination?
No. If something has happened that needs an examination, take the equipment out of use and keep it out of use until a competent person has examined it and said it’s safe.
When is the next examination due after a re-examination?
The report gives the next due date. A re-examination after exceptional circumstances is a full thorough examination, so keep to the date on the new report.
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